Evil clown is a scary success

A Swiss actor is carving out a new career as a sinister-looking clown - terrifying children's birthday parties.

Dominic Deville had the brainwave after watching his favourite horror movies and set up his Evil Clown service in Lucerne.

And he says his unlikely new venture is going so well that he's laughing all the way to the bank.

After he is hired to scare a birthday boy or girl, he first contacts his 'victims' to tell them they're being watched.

Then he taunts them with texts, phone calls and booby-trapped letters warning them that at sometime in their party he's going to smash a cake into their face.

"It's all in fun and if at any point the kids get scared or their parents are concerned we stop right there," he explained.

"But most kids absolutely love being scared senseless."

READ MORE - Evil clown is a scary success

Painting whale makes splash in art world

A Beluga whale is making a big splash as an artist after picking up a paintbrush at an oceanarium in China.

Keepers at the Qingdao Polar Ocean World say Xiao Qiang started out when he simply grabbed a paint brush left behind buy a visitor and started playing with it.

Now the seven year old star's paintings are changing hands for hundreds of pounds among fans.

"He showed a lot of interest in painting right from the start so now all we have to do is give him the brushes and hold the paper while he paints with his mouth," said trainer Zhang Yong.

"His favourite colour seems to be blue and he's best of all at seascapes. His people always look like seals."

Experts say that dolphin-like Belugas - known as the sea canary because of their high pitched squeaks and twitters - have more soft tissue around their mouths than other whales which allows Xiao Qiang to manipulate a brush.

"He enjoys what he does and this turning of the head to paint is a natural movement that these whales perform in the wild when they are cleaning their food of sand," added Yong.

"They are brighter than other whales and he loves to play jokes on his keepers. Sometimes he deliberately paints them instead of the paper."

READ MORE - Painting whale makes splash in art world

Mother-in-law left in car park

A husband went on a day trip to France - forgetting he had left his mother-in-law waiting in the ferry car park at Dover.

The man and his wife dropped their vehicle off in a long stay car park in Dover, after driving 300 miles from Bootle in Merseyside, reports Metro.

But the couple - who were treating their relative to a cross-channel day trip - then forgot all about her and left her in the back of the car.

It was only when police at the Port of Dover received an 'unusual' phone call from the absent-minded couple as they docked in France that they were able to find the pensioner.

"Officers located the vehicle and ensured the safety and welfare of the elderly lady until her grown up children returned several hours later," a force spokesman said.

"They advised us they had forgotten that their elderly mother was still in their car they had parked in the multistorey car park before their day trip."

The embarrassed couple caught the next ferry back to Britain to pick up the abandoned woman who was in her 70s.

"The trip was meant to be a treat, but it turned into a nightmare for the poor old dear, who was left sitting in the back seat of the car wondering what was going on," a police source said.

"She must have been there for at least six hours, but she didn't cause a fuss - she just stayed where she was and waited for them to return - and then she gave them hell."

READ MORE - Mother-in-law left in car park

Tall order for smallest mum

Britain's smallest mother has described the difficulties of caring for a baby son who is already almost her height.

Amanda Moore, 25, of Hinckley, Leicestershire, risked her life to give birth to Aidan, now 14-months-old.

She has a rare bone disease which stunted her growth at 3ft 1in and left her unable to stand, reports the BBC.

At 2ft 6in, Aidan is actualy taller than his mother when she is seated.

Ms Moore said: "Now he's walking he's more than a handful for someone my size."

She said she believes Aidan could end up being as tall as his father, Steven Fyfe, 20, who is 6ft 1ins.

Ms Moore added: "When I sit on the floor to play with him, he is taller than me already and he's only 14 months old.

"He's getting so big and strong that soon we'll have to tell him to be gentle with Mummy. Most boys are bigger than their mums but not after a year."

Ms Moore suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta - brittle bone disorder - and doctors warned her becoming pregnant could prove fatal.

But Aidan was born in February 2009 weighing 5lbs 5oz and had not inherited his mother's bone condition.

READ MORE - Tall order for smallest mum

Boy, 12, spends £900 on virtual farm

A 12-year-old boy has spent more than £900 developing his virtual farm on Facebook game FarmVille.

He spent £625 on his mother's credit card and £288 of his own savings on the game, reports The Guardian.

FarmVille, one of the most popular games on Facebook, allows members to manage a virtual farm by planting, growing and harvesting crops, trees and livestock.

New users are given virtual coins to set up their farm, and the revenue from crops can be used to maintain it. But those desperate to progress can buy extra coins using real cash.

The mother contacted her credit card company, HSBC, but was told she would only qualify for a refund if she reported her son to the police and obtained a crime number.

"He would be cautioned and I have been told that this caution would stay with him. Obviously the idea of a stupid farm simulation jeopardising his future earnings is not something that I want to consider," she said.

She added that her son was "very shocked" when confronted with the amount he had spent, but it was clear he knew what he was doing.

"When I asked him why he did it he said that they had brought out 'good stuff that I wanted'."

She does not blame Facebook, Zynga or HSBC, saying that her son was the one using the card and is entirely at fault.

But she added: "I do think they need to shoulder some responsibility in this business and put systems in place to stop this happening again. "

A spokeswoman for HSBC said that had the credit card been used on a gambling site it would have started alarm bells ringing for "unusual usage".

READ MORE - Boy, 12, spends £900 on virtual farm

Miracle of love for injured stork

Vets who saved a female stork, shot by hunters in Croatia, thought her days were numbered - but reckoned without the devotion of her mate.

The vets knew the female, which they called Malena, would never fly again but put her back on her nest thinking she would not survive the winter.

When her partner, named Rodan, flew south with their young they expected that she would eventually die and certainly never mate again.

But their predictions were proved wrong after the Vokic family where she had a nest helped to feed her through the long winter months and she survived.

And - even more amazingly - Rodan has returned every year to mate with his partner and rear another clutch of chicks.

Every year Rodan flies 13,000 kilometres to South Africa to spend winter in the warm and then the same distance back again to be back with his injured love.

A local said: "She was shot in 1993 by Italians - but she didn't die and was handed over to our vet. He saved her life but was crippled and had lost her ability to fly. The damage was too severe.

"Her lover is amazing - this year when he arrived from South Africa where he spent the winter, despite the fact that he had travelled 13,000 kilometres he immediately made love to Malena.

"It was clear they were pleased to see each other. Because she can't fly Rodan teaches the little ones to fly and accompanies them to the south every season."

READ MORE - Miracle of love for injured stork

Cool cat joins police force

A cat has been appointed an unofficial police officer in a Chinese city where it joins officers on patrol.

The black cat spends most of its days in the police station in the Shapingba district of Chongqing, reports the Hualong Network.

But when officers go out on patrol, the cat follows them so much that citizens have started calling it 'Officer'.

"It's very swift, and can climb trees and chase rats. It's really cool," said one officer.

A police spokesman said nobody had claimed the cat so officers had adopted it and were feeding it.

"They are raising the cat and giving it the informal title of police officer for its cool look and diligent work in catching rats," he said.

READ MORE - Cool cat joins police force

Girl, 3, walks wire above tigers

A Chinese zoo has been slammed for letting a three-year-old girl walk a tightrope eight metres above a tiger enclosure.

The little girl walked along the 130 metre long high wire above six hungry Siberian tigers at Changzhou Yancheng Zoo in Jiangsu province.

She was part of a routine which also involved two adult acrobats who crossed the wire using a bicycle and a ladder as props.

But the crowd gasped when three-year-old Zhang Xiaoyan started to walk along the wire, with a thin safety rope attached around her waste.

Witnesses said people screamed when she nearly lost her footing on the first step, as a strong gust of wind nearly blew her off the wire.

The little girl walked along the wire without even a pole, using just her arms for balance, as the tigers prowled below. One even jumped up towards her.

Horrified visitors criticised the zoo for putting on the stunt which they said amounted to child abuse.

"If she was my child, I would never let her do anything like that no matter how talented she is," complained one parent.

A zoo spokesman said they had hired a professional group, the Jiangxi Elite Children Arts Troupe, to put on the routine which met all safety requirements.

Zhang Shenwen, director of Jiangxi Elite Children Arts Troupe, said Xiaoyan was the world's youngest high wire walker, and had been training since she was just one.

"She has very good psychological control," he added, saying she would retire at the age of seven to go to school and eventually planned to go to university.

READ MORE - Girl, 3, walks wire above tigers

Ten minute in the toilet for civil servants

Timers have been installed to prevent civil servants from spending any longer than ten minutes in the toilet.

Dozens of workers have reportedly been caught out by the new efficiency drive at the Government Office for the West Midlands.

A hidden sensor switches off the toilet light after ten minutes of use, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Staff have condemned the GOWM for the move, which was introduced in a bid to help save millions of pounds.

One worker at the offices in Birmingham said: "This was brought in without any staff consultation and is both humiliating and degrading.

"Can you imagine the indignity of being in a cubicle, letting nature take its course, when suddenly the lights go out, and you have to fumble in the dark to make yourself decent, before struggling to make your way out towards the main door to the toilets where the switch is?

"All the while you are praying someone doesn't enter the toilets and see you struggling in the dark with your trousers round your ankles."

Similar changes are expected to be rolled out around the country to meet Treasury targets for Whitehall departments to make "efficiency savings" worth £11bn a year.

A spokeswoman for the government office defended their toilet light switches insisting they save money and energy.

She said: "We have introduced a range of measures across Government Office buildings to reduce avoidable energy consumption and we are continuing with that work."

READ MORE - Ten minute in the toilet for civil servants

'Drunk' man tried to revive roadkill

A US man has been charged with public drunkenness after he tried to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to roadkill.

Police arrested Donald Wolfe, 55, after witnesses reported seeing him trying to revive a long dead possum, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

One reported seeing Mr Wolfe kneeling before the animal and gesturing as though he were conducting a seance.

Another reported seeing him give mouth to mouth resuscitation to the carcass on a highway north-east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

State police trooper Jamie Levier said the animal had been dead a while.

Trooper Levier says the Brookville man was "extremely intoxicated" and "did have his mouth in the area of the animal's mouth, I guess".

A possum is about the size of a domestic cat. The animals are known for feigning death when threatened, hence the phrase "playing possum".

READ MORE - 'Drunk' man tried to revive roadkill

Row over Tiger Woods blow-up doll

Lawyers for Tiger Woods are reportedly trying to halt the sale of a series of sex toys which exploit the golfer's personal problems.

The toys include a 'Take Home, Blow-up Tiger Love Doll' and are for sale on the website of Pipedream Products.

Pipedream is advertising its Tiger products as being "available for a very limited time only".

The US gossip website TMZ.com has managed to obtain a copy of a lawyer's letter to Pipedream.

It is demanding that the company stops selling the products, recalls all items that have already been distributed and destroys all stock.

This isn't the first time lawyers have been called to deal with offensive products in the wake of the Tiger Woods scandal.

In February, Joslyn James, one of his extramarital girlfriends, called on her lawyers to stop the sale of sets of "mistress" golf balls in which each ball featured the face of one of his alleged lovers.

READ MORE - Row over Tiger Woods blow-up doll